Vertical garbe chutes which extend down through several stories of an apartment house for disposal of refuse to a receptacle in the basement of the building are in common use. These often become clogged and inoperable making it necessary for them to be cleared. I have found that the cause of the clogging is primarily that resulting of stuffing of old newspapers, shopping bags, and other large paper items into the chute which do not permit free passage. This necessitates calling a maintenance man to insert probes of various kinds into the chute in an effort to clear the material. This is particularly troublesome in a multi-storied building where the clogging may occur a considerable distance from the bottom outlet of the chute.
I have found nothing in the prior art which is constructed to facilitate this operation. The prior pertinent patent art as known to me at present is set forth briefly below.
Miller U.S. Pat. No. 179,718 discloses a Tee-shaped handle device constructed for picture hanging and carpet stretching which resembles my invention in appearance only but does not have any of the cutting or clearing features which I have.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,017,369 to McGhee features a fire hook which comprises a sharp cutting hook on the end of a handle and is constructed to be used by fire fighters in tearing away portions of the ceilings of a room in connection with their activities in fighting fire. It does not teach my rotating and grabbing elements, nor the extensible handle.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,724,610 to Fitzgerald does disclose an extensible handle having hinged or telescoping sections and a Tee-shaped golf ball retriever on one end. It is in effect a long handled rake capable of being folded up and placed into a golf bag, the working end of the Tee being constructed to retrieve golf balls. It does not suggest any use or modification for the purpose which I disclose herein.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,936,088 to Williams likewise teaches a handle having a series of hinged sections with a double-ended hook on one end adapted for placing or removing tarpalins over the top of a vehicle by the operator working from the ground. It likewise does not suggest the construction of my device and in no way could it be modified to perform the functions which I do.